Environmental Engineering is the integration of

science and engineering principles to improve

the natural environment, to provide healthy
water, air, and land for human habitation and
for other organisms, and to remediate pollution
sites.
The study of how humans interact with
their environment
Our environment is everything that
surrounds us, both natural and man-made.
• All the things around us with which we
interact:
• Living things
• Animals, plants, forests, fungi, etc.
• Nonliving things
• Continents, oceans, clouds, soil, rocks
• Our built environment
• Buildings, human-created living centers
• Social relationships and institutions
 Natural resources = substances and energy sources
needed for survival

Renewable resources:
Perpetually available: sunlight, wind, wave energy
Renew themselves over short periods: timber, water, soil
These can be destroyed
Nonrenewable resources: can be depleted
Oil, coal, minerals
Environment  impacts 
Humans
• It has an applied goal:
developing solutions to
environmental problems
An interdisciplinary field
Natural sciences: information
about the world
Social sciences: values and
human behavior, politics,
economy, etc.
The perception of what
constitutes a problem varies
between individuals and
societies
Ex.: DDT, a pesticide
In developing countries: welcome
because it kills malaria-carrying
mosquitoes
In developed countries: not
welcome, due to health risks
What are the environmental issues we are
facing today?

Come up with at least 10!

• Expanded food production led to
increased population and consumption
• It’s one of humanity’s greatest
achievements, but at an enormous
environmental cost
• Nearly half of the planet’s land surface is
used for agriculture
• Chemical fertilizers
• Pesticides
• Erosion
• Changed natural systems
• Waste products and artificial chemicals used in
farms, industries, and households

• Each year, millions of people die from pollution

• Scientists have firmly concluded that humans are
changing the composition of the atmosphere
• The Earth’s surface is warming
• Melting glaciers
• Rising sea levels
• Impacted wildlife and crops
• Increasingly destructive weather

Since the Industrial Revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide

concentrations have risen by 37%, to the highest level in 650,000 years
•Human actions have driven many species extinct,
and biodiversity is declining dramatically

Biodiversity loss may be our biggest environmental

problem; once a species is extinct, it is gone forever
• The lives we live today are due to
fossil fuels
• Machines
• Chemicals
• Transportation
• Products
• Fossil fuels are a one-time bonanza;
supplies will certainly decline

We have used up ½ of the world’s oil supplies;

how will we handle this imminent fossil fuel
shortage?
We must develop solutions that protect both our quality
of life and the environment
Organic agriculture
Technology
Reduces pollution
Biodiversity
Protect species
Waste disposal
Recycling
Alternative fuels
Sustainability
Leaves future generations with a rich
and full Earth
Conserves the Earth’s natural
resources
Maintains fully functioning ecological
systems
Sustainable development: the use of
resources to satisfy current needs without
compromising future availability of
resources
The triple bottom line:
sustainable solutions that meet
Environmental goals
Economic goals
Social goals

Requires that humans apply

knowledge from the sciences to
Limit environmental impacts
Maintain functioning ecological
systems
• Many people think environmental conditions
are better (Human ingenuity will solve any
problem)
• Some think things are much worse in the world
(predict doom and disaster)
• How can you decide who is correct?
• Are the impacts limited to humans, or are other organisms
or systems involved?
• Are the proponents thinking in the long or short term?
• Are they considering all costs and benefits?
Environmental science helps us understand our
relationship with the environment and informs our
attempts to solve and prevent problems.
Solving environmental problems can move us towards
health, longevity, peace and prosperity
Environmental science can help us find balanced solutions
to environmental problems
1. Define Environment. Give example of different type of
Environmental component.
2. What is Environmental Engineering? What are the
fields of environmental Engineering?
3. What is Environmental Resource? Give example of
different type of resource.
4. What is Environmental Problem? Describe different
type of environmental problems.
5. What do you understand by Sustainability? Why is
Sustainability important for environment?
6. “Environment is getting worse day by day” Are you
agree with this statement? Justify your answer.